A Week of Soccer

I've been thinking lately of a way that I could cover other leagues and tournaments without having to write as extensive posts as I do for MLS and EPL, and it suddenly hit me today. I can put the best stories from around the soccer world and put them all in one post! Sure, this will include some MLS and EPL, but I mean how can I not include the top 2 leagues in the world in "A Week of Soccer" (I need a new name for this... Any ideas?) Well here we go!

La Liga
This is the top flight Spanish league, which includes Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid (go ahead and try to name 5 other teams in La Liga... I'm not sure I could). Some story lines coming out of La Liga last week were that Real Madrid surprisingly LOST to Atletico Madrid, 2:1. How can you have all star players such as Bale, Benzema, Rodriguez, and Kroos, lose to a decimated Atletico side? Also, Barcelona is unbeaten in league play thus far with 3 wins.

Champions League
The Champions League is this HUGE tournament that happens from September to May in Europe. It includes teams from around Europe, and pits powerhouses such as Bayern Munich and Manchester City against each other. Teams can qualify for the tournament by performing well in their separate leagues, such as in the EPL, where a team must be in the top 3 of the league by the end of the season to qualify for the Champions League. Some big stories from the Champions league this week were that Bayern Munich defeated Manchester City 1-0 and Schalke (a German team) tied a Costa-less Chelsea 1-1.

MLS
Okay, I know this isn't "around the world", but MLS made big news this week by announcing a rebrand of their image. The league decided that it was time for a change because of all the changes already happening in the league. There will be 2 new teams next season, and huge names such as Kaka, Lampard, and Villa coming to the league.

This is the new logo for MLS, with the three stars standing for "Community. Club. Country." The MLS finds these three pillars crucial to American soccer, and decided to even incorporate them into the crest. Something cool about this crest is that it can be personalized based on each team. Below is the example for the Orlando City crest. The problem that many people have with the crest is the random white space on the right side of the design. Many people have taken matters into their own hands and filled that white space with team logos and designs. You can see some of those here!

Americans Abroad

Some Americans made headlines this week such as:

Tim Howard- Made 12 saves in a Europa League game for Everton

Brek Shea- Got an assist in his debut for Birmingham City, where he is on loan from Stoke City

Julian Green- Announced that he hoped being able to play at Hamburg (Germany) will help him get first team time in the future on Bayern Munich